1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for monitoring a memory partitioned by Class of Service (hereinafter “CoS”) in a communication network environment such as a token ring, ATM, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet environment. In particular, the present invention relates to a network device for and a method of monitoring a partitioned memory based on CoS identified within a packet. The present invention can be implemented in a network component, which may include discrete devices or which may be implemented on a semiconductor substrate, such as a switching chip, in a switching architecture.
2. Description of the Related Art
In high speed networking environments, an increasing amount of packets, such as data, voice, video, and etc. are being received and transmitted between a plurality of network communication devices within the network. The packets being sent or received can be grouped by the types of packet traffic, i.e., e-mail, streaming video, voice, large document file transfer. By grouping similar types of packet traffic, the packets can be classified by a respective level of service priority, and therefore the packets can be treated accordingly. However, as the traffic of packets increases in the networking environment, the possibility of congestion on the network also increases. Accordingly, the increase in network congestion may present the packets within the network from being handled and processed according to their designated levels of service priority. As such, it is important to ensure that the packets are handled and processed in accordance to their designated levels of priority in order to increase efficiency and speed between network communication devices.